Mighty Life List
Inspired by Mighty Girl and a long list of other women who are setting grand adventures into motion, I thought I'd share my own list. Or at least, my list so far. Which is not quite 100 yet, but is 36, which happens to be my current age. Funny that. Anyway, I've been building this list since last Thanksgiving, and for some reason it makes me extremely anxious to share it with the universe. Which is dumb, I know, but I'm not an open book and this feels really exhibitionist.
Well, here goes:
1. Drive a race car.
2. Get a pilot's license.
3. Live on an island.
4. Speak French fluently.
5. And maybe Spanish, too.
6. Go back to France.
7. Make wine.
8. Make homemade cheese(s). (1/30/10: ricotta)
9. Visit New York. (8/5-8/10: BlogHer '10)
10. Take a helicopter tour of interior Maui.
11. Ice skate.
12. Replace my cheap wine glasses with fine glassware or crystal.
13. Break out the china and silver for something mundane, like spaghetti or hamburgers.
14. Travel to Java to see the volcanos.
15. Learn to scuba dive.
16. Write a novel.
17. Learn to sail.
18. Visit every island in the Caribbean. (Key West, Grand Cayman, Cozumel)
19. Teach my nephews and nieces to drive a stick-shift.
20. Visit the zoo, a really great zoo like San Diego or Fort Worth, with a child. (San Francisco Zoo w/ niece Dejohna)
21. Hike into the Costa Rican Monteverde or Santa Elena Cloud Rain Forest.
22. Take Handsome on a surprise, last-minute, exotic vacation.
23. Expatriate.
24. Touch the sandstone walls of Petra.
25. Skinny-dip in a stranger's pool while the entire family is out of town.
26. Own a convertible.
27. Begin drawing again, including art classes if necessary.
28. Buy a little black dress.
29. Celebrate the New Year in Paris, New York, Sydney, Rio de Janiero, London, and Dubai. (Paris 1998/1999 & 1999/2000 -- Millennium! Awesome!)
30. Go back to school to get the degree I never knew I wanted: English Literature.
31. Find the perfect recipe for wonton soup.
32. Make homemade marshmallows. (Christmas 2009)
33. Learn to tango.
34. Take drum lessons. (4/21/10: first lesson)
35. Road-trip across the American Southwest. Drive Route 66. See Meteor Crater, the Grand Canyon, Four Corners, etc.
36. Witness the crab migration on Christmas Island.
37. Upgrade my kitchen equipment. (2010: salt and pepper grinders, forged steel cutlery, heavy duty skillets, Oster blender, new toaster)
38. Grow a kitchen garden, with tomatoes, herbs, squash, cucumber, salad greens, etc. (May 2010: planted tomatoes and herbs)
39. Visit Knighton, Wales, UK.
40. Learn to roller skate. (5/4/10: first time on skates in over two decades - did not fall!)
41. And then learn to roller blade.
42. Take a cemetery tour and a ghost tour in New Orleans.
43. Spend the night in a haunted antebellum mansion.
44. Buy coffee and end tables.
45. Learn to make classic French sauces properly (including but not limited to: bearnaise, hollandaise, mornay, beurre blanc.)
46. Ride a dozen (or more) roller coasters, each in a different state.
47. Create and send care packages for no apparent reason. One a month for a year.
48. Visit the New Seven Wonders of the World.
49. See the Aurora Borealis. Take photos.
50. Complete C25K and begin running on a regular basis, 3-4 times a week.
51. Try two dozen gins.
52. Rearrange the den.
53. Organize my shoes and handbags. Donate or toss any that I haven't worn or used in more than a year.
54. Figure out WordPress.
55. Find a favorite honey. (8/18/10: It's not Pure Honey from CRM Apiaries.)
56. Read one non-fiction or business book each month.
57. Spend a month living at the beach, without interrupting work.
58. Design my home office space, including furniture for both work and comfort, as well as space for my drum kit.
59. Clean out the closet, donating all clothes that no longer fit, are out of fashion, or are no longer worn. Discard everything that is just plain worn out. Repeat annually or as needed. (During the move, we took several car-loads of clothes to the shelter, and we felt so much lighter for doing it. Will definitely repeat annually.)
60. Attend Formula 1 when it comes to Austin.
61. See my favorite band(s) outside the USA. (10/08: Rush in Milan, Italy.)
62. Replace my point-and-shoot with a good, but not-too-expensive DSLR.
63. Learn to use it.
64. Plant a fruit tree and harvest its fruit. Give a bunch away to neighbors.
65. Make jam.
66. Create a cook book for the Baptist Wine Club. Include no wines over $10.
67. Self-publish that cook book and give copies to family and friends.
68. Make more homemade truffles. (Christmas 2009 family favorites: Irish Cream, Amaretto, Kahlua.)
69. Paint the patio floor. (The new house has stained concrete on the patio. I think this qualifies as a check-mark.)
70. Become a better hostess. Including welcome gifts, toiletries kits, signature cocktails, weekend itineraries, menus, etc.
